“Green, deformed face, red eyes, wearing a cape?”
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself.”
“And you’ve got him on disc.”
“Yeah. He was heading down from the second level, east, moving fast in a kind of—boogie. Part of me was spooked, I admit. The other part figured somebody was playing a joke. But we have to check out any unauthorized activity. By the time I got to that sector—along with the other guard I’d alerted—he was gone. I went up, saw the lights were on in Dr. Rosenthall’s lab, so I keyed in, and I saw . . . The place is wrecked, Lieutenant, and there’s a body. It’s male, but I couldn’t tell who it was. The face, it’s, well, wrecked, too. And there’s blood everywhere.”
“Okay.” She nodded to the uniform outside the lab doors. “Key me in, Tweed, then I’m going to want those discs. The originals.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“And stand by,” she told him.
Wrecked was a mild word for it, Eve thought as she scanned the area. Smashed comps lay on the floor on a sea of broken beakers, dishes, specimen bowls. The body lay faceup—what was left of the face. Blood stained the hacked and ripped clothes, spread over the floor, left its obscene abstract art on the sides of a counter.
And on the top, in blood, his message.
Memo to: Lt. Dallas.
Nobody liked him anyway.
You’re welcome!
Sincerely, Dr. Chaos.
“It’s Billingsly.”
“How can you be sure?”
“That’s the suit he had on this morning.” She took a can of Seal-It out of her kit, used it, tossed it to Roarke. “This takes him off the suspect list.”
“I doubt he’d feel grateful.”
“What was he doing in here? He doesn’t strike me as the type who’d come by for a late-night visit with Rosenthall, and this isn’t his area. He’s another floor up, in the other wing.”
“He might have been lured here.”
“Yeah, maybe. But it’s late, way after hours. Why is he in the building, and where’s Rosenthall? I need to know who keyed in before Security.”
“Would you like me to see to that area?”
“Yeah, that would save time.”
“His nose is gone.”
“It sure is. What does that mean? Smell no evil? No, that’s just stupid. To me it says nosy. You’re nosy, Billingsly; now you’re dead.”
She turned as Peabody came in.
“Wow. Another day, another slaughter.” Peabody eased out a breath. “McNab’s with me. I had him start on Security. I thought maybe Roarke would be here, so we’d have two e-men on it.”
“Then I’ll go hook up with Ian.”
“What do you see?” Eve asked Peabody when they were alone.
“I see Billingsly’s off the suspect list.”
Despite the circumstances, Eve smiled a little. “And?”